Take an animation studio beloved the world over, and pair them up with what just might be Japan’s fastest growing game maker and publisher — it sounds perfect. Level-5 (Professor Layton, Dragon Quest IX) teamed up with Studio Ghibli (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) to create two RPGs (same name, but different platforms) that feature Pokemon like monster catching mechanics. It’s called Ni no Kuni and it sounds like an amazing game. Last year’s Ni no Kuni: The Another World failed to set the world on fire after its release in Japan despite its impressive pedigree. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a part follow-up, part remake for the PS3, and it sounds amazing, but the reality doesn’t quite live up to expectations.
If Ni no Kuni seems so amazing on paper, why am I so bored when I actually sit down to play the game? I’ve put around four hours into the Japanese version, and despite an amazing art style, wonderful voice acting, and the game featuring a charming cast of characters that really would be at home in a film by Hayao Miyazaki (Ghibli’s most famed director), the moment to moment gameplay of the game is dreadfully dull.
